From NEHJ: You Can Play enters new phase

You Can Play co-founder
Patrick Burke with his late brother, Brendan, at Fenway Park.
Below, Patrick Burke with Blades, the Bruins mascot.

At some point in our lives, all
of us have been inspired to go out and change the world. As
co-founder of You Can Play, a project launched in the spring of
2012 that’s dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and
safety for all athletes without regard to sexual orientation,
Patrick Burke has done just that, and on a scale much larger than
he likely anticipated.

A Canton, Mass., native and the
son of former Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke (Providence, R.I.),
Patrick’s inspiration came in the wake of tragedy, as his
brother Brendan — the video coordinator and student manager
for Miami-Ohio’s hockey team — was killed in a car
crash in 2010. The 21-year-old’s death came just months after
he came out to his family and subsequently the world in a story by
ESPN’s John Buccigross, putting him in the national spotlight
as an advocate for gay rights.

Now, after a year and a half as
the face of an organization that’s made huge strides toward
stomping out homophobia in sports, Patrick is stepping back behind
the curtain. In August, the former Philadelphia Flyers scout
announced that ex-NFL player Wade Davis — who came out after
retiring — would be taking over as executive director of You
Can Play.

“I think, for too long,
we’ve had a straight voice kind of dominating the
conversation,” Burke said. “I think that there’s
something to be said for empowering a gay, black, former NFL player
who can connect with people in ways that I can’t.”

Burke left the Flyers in August
to join NHL Department of Player Safety mentor Brendan Shanahan in
the newly created position of director of player safety.

We caught up with Patrick
— who will remain heavily involved behind the scenes —
to discuss all that You Can Play has accomplished thus far, and got
his take on the controversy surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi, as many fear Russia’s new anti-gay laws may put LGBT
athletes and those who support them in danger.

NEHJ: It’s March 4, 2012, and You Can Play is
introduced to the world. What was that day like for
you?

Burke: It was certainly a
nerve-wracking day for all of us. I was in New York and spent the
morning doing media, then went to the Bruins-Rangers game where it
debuted. At that point we had the support of the league, the teams,
and numerous players. It was all about gauging how the fans would
respond to it. Thankfully there was an overwhelmingly positive
response.

NEHJ: No one aims low on their ultimate goals, but has
all that YCP has achieved in its first year and a half exceeded
your expectations in any way?

Burke: I think it definitely did
in terms of how quickly it became a real part of the conversation
in the NHL. We anticipated a good response, and anticipated that
people would like us, but I don’t think we knew how quickly
we would be seen as an integral part of the game. Players know us
and reference us, fans talk about us, management calls on us. We
were almost immediately a part of the hockey culture.

NEHJ: How much of a game-changer is the official partnership with
the NHL and NHLPA?

Burke: It’s huge. First of
all, to have an official position from both the NHL and the NHLPA
that gay players and fans are welcome is amazing. The ability to
provide resources and information directly to players is
ground-breaking in how aggressively smart it is.

NEHJ: Does YCP have a hands-on role with the process
of educating prospects?

Burke: Yes, we will be involved
with educating prospects and currently players through resources
and through the rookie symposium.

NEHJ: You’re always around the game. How much of
an effect has YCP had on “hockey people” — from
players to scouts, trainers, all the way up the ranks —
whether behaviorally or conversationally?

Burke: I think it’s really
helped change the tone of conversation. There was a decent amount
of casual homophobia that we’d have to hear over the years,
and that’s definitely slowed to almost nothing. The last time
a scout said something homophobic in front of me, he called me a
day later to personally apologize and swore he’d never do
something like that again. Guys are starting to recognize that
it’s not OK, and even correct other guys for their
missteps.

NEHJ: You’ve publicly stated you’re
opposed to any consideration of boycotting the Sochi Olympics. Does
that feel contradictory, in any way, to what you and YCP stand for?
Was it a stance you wrestled with at all?

Burke: No. We think our mission
is fully served by participating in the Olympics and drawing as
much attention as possible to the horrific crimes going on in
Russia right now. Every LGBT sports figure we’ve spoken to
agrees. And the Russian LGBT community wants the Olympics to
continue. Not to mention the fact that a boycott was never
considered as a possible option by any Olympic governing body or
the U.S. government. So, no. We didn’t wrestle with it,
because the boycott idea is a failure on every level.

NEHJ: With so many high-profile, pro-LGBT NHLers and
staff members — your dad included — representing the
U.S. and Canada in Sochi, is it possible to rule out concerns of
someone being made an example of by the Russian
government?

Burke: No. We cannot and have
not ruled out those concerns.

NEHJ: What about the fear of Russian citizens taking
the law into their own hands?

Burke: That is more of a concern
to us than the government acting, but both are possibilities. We
consider both possibilities to be remote, but it is a non-zero
threat.

NEHJ: Has You Can Play discussed any reactionary
strategies if something like this were to happen?

Burke: We would respond
appropriately to whatever situation arose.

NEHJ: Is knowing how proud Brendan would be of all the
strides you, your dad, YCP and, heck, the sports world as a whole
have made over these last few years something that crosses your
mind on a daily basis?

Burke: I hope that Brendan would
have been proud of us. I genuinely believe that he would be,
otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I don’t think an hour goes
by on any given day where I don’t think about him and miss
him terribly. You Can Play has been an outlet for my grief, but
nothing takes that feeling of loss away. I try to remember that
this is something Brendan would have loved to see when he was 16,
and that we are helping the next generation of gay athletes feel
safer. I wish someone had done something like this when Brendan was
in high school.